Safeguarding

Mad4Sports is committed to providing a safe, positive and supportive environment for every child at our classes, camps, clubs and activities.

We recognise our responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, and to make sure everyone working on behalf of Mad4Sports is suitable, appropriately checked, and understands their safeguarding responsibilities.

Where we run sessions on school premises we follow that school's own safeguarding procedures, site rules, emergency procedures, collection arrangements and any school-specific guidance given to us.

Our Designated Safeguarding Lead is Madz Depala, contactable on 07763 746 886.

Madz oversees safeguarding practice across our sessions, responds to concerns, liaises with parents where appropriate, and escalates concerns to the school's Designated Safeguarding Lead, to local authority children's services, or to emergency services where needed.

All staff working directly with children hold a current Enhanced DBS certificate, including checks against the Children's Barred List where applicable. DBS status is verified and recorded before anyone works unsupervised with children, and we keep a central record.

Before starting with us, staff provide proof of identity and right to work, and we take up and review employment and character references.

All staff complete safeguarding training appropriate to their role before working with children. It covers child protection awareness, recognising signs of abuse and neglect, responding to and escalating concerns, professional boundaries and conduct, behaviour management, health and safety, and emergency procedures. Training is refreshed regularly in line with current guidance.

Parent contact details, emergency contacts and medical information are held securely on our booking system, Class4Kids. That includes allergies, asthma, medication, SEND notes and any other relevant needs you tell us about when you book.

This information is available to Madz and the session lead so your child can be supported safely. Please keep it up to date.

Madz holds a current first aid certificate and a first aid kit is available at every session.

If there's an accident or injury, staff report it to Madz. We'll contact you by phone or email where appropriate, or tell you at pick up, depending on what's happened. Anything serious is escalated immediately in line with the venue's procedures, and we'll call emergency services where necessary.

Children stay under our supervision for the whole session. Madz oversees arrival, dismissal, toilet arrangements, sibling arrangements and late collections.

At the end of a session Madz brings children to the designated pick up area. Please collect on time, as our sessions often run back to back.

If someone other than the named parent or carer is collecting, tell us in advance by texting Madz on 07763 746 886 or emailing admin@mad4sports.co.uk. Include the full name and contact number of the person collecting, and a photo if you can. We won't release a child to anyone not on the authorised collection list without prior notice.

If a child is allowed to walk home independently, confirm that with us in advance, and it needs to match the school's own independent travel arrangements.

Any accident, incident, behaviour concern or safeguarding concern is reported to Madz. Where appropriate we'll contact you by phone or email, or speak to you at pick up.

On school premises, relevant safeguarding concerns, serious incidents and health and safety matters are also reported to the school's Designated Safeguarding Lead. Any safeguarding concern is acted on immediately, in line with our procedures, statutory guidance and the school's own policy.

We treat children's personal information, parent contact details, medical information and safeguarding information as confidential. It's held securely and only accessed by people who need it to deliver a session safely or respond to a concern.

Safeguarding information may be shared with a school, the local authority, emergency services or other appropriate agencies where that's necessary to protect a child or to meet a legal or safeguarding obligation.

We don't use photographs or video of children for marketing, our website or social media without appropriate parental consent. Where a school has its own photography or social media policy, we follow the school's policy while on their premises.

We follow each school's safeguarding, health and safety, fire, lockdown, medical, behaviour, collection and site-specific procedures where they are given to us, and we're happy to work with a school's Designated Safeguarding Lead and office team to make sure our arrangements line up with what the school expects.